Sep 20, 2023 2 min read

In approving the new state budget, lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro took a pass on complying with the historic Commonwealth Court decision earlier this year, which found that the government’s distribution of education funding shortchanges poorer districts and is unconstitutional.

The 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission is conducting public hearings on how to fix the flaws cited by the court. One is coming up in the Fayette County community of Lemont Furnace on Thursday, Oct. 12.

The Legislature adopted a “fair funding formula” in 2015 but immediately rendered it unfair. It also decided to apply the formula only to money appropriated above the 2015 baseline, so that today only about 14% of state basic education funding is distributed according to the fair formula.

The consequences are profound. The Scranton School District alone, for example, would receive an estimated $30 million more every year if the formula applied to all state education funding.

The commission comprises 12 legislators – six of each party from both houses – and three members appointed by the governor. Its schedule is to complete its work by November, which is ambitious, but its true target is February so that Shapiro would be able to include proposed solutions in next year’s budget proposal.

Plaintiffs who brought the Commonwealth Court case contended that the state would have to come up with about $4.5 billion a year to meet the fair funding mandate. This year the budget includes a $567 million increase in basic education funds and some additional money in “level-up” funding for poorer districts.

Democratic Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster, a commission member, had it right when he said the most important issue for the commission should be truly fair distribution of whatever the budget makes available, rather than a focus on any particular number. The Legislature can increase funding over time, but the distribution issue should be the immediate focus for the next budget.